Bank of America settlement on overdraft fees OKd

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BANKING

BofA overdraft settlement OKd

A federal judge in Miami approved a $410 million settlement in a lawsuit claiming Bank of America charged excessive overdraft fees.

The decision Monday by Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King affects more than 13 million current and former bank customers who used debit cards over the past decade. Most will get only a fraction of the overdraft fees they paid.

The class-action lawsuit claimed that Bank of America processed its debit card and check payments in a way that triggered more overdrafts and therefore more fees.

The bank insists the system was proper despite the settlement.

The settlement includes an estimated $123 million in legal fees for plaintiff's lawyers.

RETAIL

Best Buy's new plan in Europe

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC is closing its 11 Best Buy "big box" electronics stores in the United Kingdom, launched in April last year, as part of a reorganization of its relationship with the U.S. retailer.

The stores competed in a tough market for brick-and-mortar electronic retailers, and Roger Taylor, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, said Monday that they lacked the national reach to achieve scale and brand economies.

Carphone Warehouse also said it is selling its interest in Best Buy Mobile in the United States and Canada to Best Buy Co. Inc. for $1.34 billion.

Carphone said it plans to return all but $40 million of that to shareholders.

Best Buy Europe, in which Carphone Warehouse holds a half interest, will now focus on selling Internet and mobile phone connections through 2,500 Carphone Warehouse and Phone House stores in Europe.

Walmart has opened two small pop-up stores in Southern California to sell merchandise from its website and to help move into more urban areas.

The stores, a 1,000-square-foot site in west Los Angeles and a 3,000-square-foot unit in San Diego, opened last Tuesday and will close Dec. 31, spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said. Shoppers can browse all 1 million items on Walmart.com, and choose to have purchases delivered to their home or to any Walmart location.

Walmart, led by Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke, has shifted its focus to boosting online sales and opening smaller stores in the United States over the past year, in part to break into more urban areas like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

Sales in its namesake U.S. stores open at least a year have declined for nine consecutive quarters.

Merchandise on display in the two dot-com stores includes Apple iPads and Walt Disney Co. toys. Walmart will reimburse shoppers for the costs of standard shipping to their home in the form of electronic gift cards, Lopez said.

Some items, like earphones, game controllers and 3-D glasses, are available for purchase at the store, he said.